1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of using high temperature plasma to neutralize toxic or hazardous material, and more particularly to a method of using high temperature plasma to disintegrate organic photo-conductor material waste containing titanyl phthalocyanine (TiOPc) to non-toxic and non-hazardous materials.
2. Description of Related Art
Plasma is a highly ionized and high temperature gas, is a combination of molecules, atoms, electrons and positive ions and is considered to be a “fourth state of matter” in addition to solid, liquid, and gas. High temperature plasma is a clean thermal-source that disintegrates large molecules without combustion. The disintegration of the waste is a process involving energy transmission and conversion. Compounds subjected to the high temperature plasma disintegrate, and energy of the compounds in the plasma is transmitted to the waste within electric arcs in the high temperature plasma. When the waste and high temperature plasma interact, electrons in the molecules and atoms of the waste are stripped away from the nucleus of the atoms, break the bonds between atoms of the waste compounds and fundamentally completely destroy the waste. Ideally, using high temperature plasma to break down waste only generates some simple molecules or atoms such as hydrogen atom, carbon oxide, carbon atom, and hydrochloride because the simple molecules or atoms can not recombine into complex molecule in the high temperature plasma.
Presently, flammable wastes are treated by incineration. However, incinerating equipment does not completely breakdown the waste and often results in the generation of some toxic products. Consequently, subsequent processes are required to treat the toxic products and are troublesome. Particularly, organic waste of organic photo-conductor (OPC), i.e. titanyl phthalocyanine (TiOPc), cannot be disintegrated by incineration and is classified as nonflammable material. Therefore, organic photo-conductor waste containing titanyl phthalocyanine is a significant waste treatment system problem for manufacturers.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a method using high temperature plasma to disintegrate waste containing titanyl phthalocyanine (TiOPc) to mitigate or obviate the problems.